Metito Holdings, Scatec and Orascom Construction, and the government of Egypt are in talks over construction of a solar desalination in Egypt.
The consortium which is in discussion with the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Egypt (TFSE) f said the idea is to reduce the environmental impact of desalination in Egypt. The capacity of the future plant will be between 1 and 2 million m3 of water per day while the a solar power plant to supply the future facility with electricity will have a capacity of 400 MW.
According to Karim Madwar, Métito’s General Manager for Africa, construction of the future seawater desalination plant and the future power station will require an overall investment of US $1.5bn.
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Water needs in Egypt
Through this project, the consortium hopes to meet the water needs of Egyptians, currently estimated at 114 billion m3 per year. Egypt currently has only 60 billion m3, of which 55.5 billion m3 comes from the Nile and half a billion m3 from non-renewable groundwater spread over several parts of the desert.
The project is expected to begin after negotiations with the Egyptian government have been completed. Meanwhile, Egypt is planning to launch a call for financing to local and international investors this first quarter of 2022. The country, through its sovereign wealth fund, aims to raise US $2.5bn for the construction of 17 new seawater desalination plants. The plants, which will run on solar energy, will be able to produce 2.8 million m3 of drinking water per day.
